Leather skiving machine or splitter



Sept. 26, 1950 R. w. HALL 2,524,014

LEATHER SKIVING MACHINE OR SPLITTER Original Filed July 19, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

- RJ /z W/iz/j BY Htziys.

Sept. 26, 1950 R. w. HALL 2,524,014

LEATHER SKIVING MACHINE OR SPLITTER Original Filed July 19, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN V EN TOR.

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Patented Sept. 26, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LEATHER SKIVING MACHINE OR SPLITTER Ralph W. Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to The Randall Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio 9 Claims. (01. 6910) This invention relates to improvements in a leather skiving machine, splitter, or the like, and this application is a division of my pending application Serial No. 762,177 filed July .9, 1947.

An object of this invention is to provide a leather splitting machine having a head which may be adjusted radially and crosswise of a knife support for setting the head with reference to the knife.

Another object is the provision of means for adjusting the head of the skiving machine in relation to the fixed path of the skiving knife, to obtain a square and accurate setting thereof.

Another object of the invention is the provision of means for gaging the maximum width of leather to be fed into the machine for skiving.

A further object is the provision of means for expeditiously adjusting the space between the knife blade and the pressure roller to accommodate a predetermined thickness of leatherprior to the skiving operation.

Another object of the invention is the provision of means whereby the head of the machine may be swiveled in relation to the knife blade, making possible the skiving of two or more pieces of leather of different thicknesses at the same time, thus increasing the productivity of the device.

These and other objects and advantages are attained by the means described in the following specifications and illustrated upon the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of the skiving machine embodying the improvements herein described, parts being broken away for clarity of illustration and description.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the skiving machine.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmental perspective view of the swivel head, with parts broken away for clarity.

Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the pressure roll spring mounting means.

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing in side elevation the grinding wheel motor suspension.

Fig. 6 is a fragmental top view of the skiving machine, showing the bevel indicator arrangement and the means for adjusting the swivel plate.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged plan view taken on line l-l of Fig. 5, showing the construction of the swivel plate, and its relation to the swivel block and swivel pin.

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the head control mounting means.

Fig. 9 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the roller assembly and knife support.

Machines for skiving leather and kindred materials are in general usage for producing thin sheets employed in the manufacture of bill folds, bags and cases of various types, shoe parts, and many other articles of commerce incorporating thin flexible sheet leather and similar materials. Such machines heretofore have given notoriously poor service in the performance of their intended functions, due to their relative inflexibility of operation, their inability to process with equal effectiveness all grades or weights of raw material, and various other limitations most of which result from the varied nature of the materials to be processed. The limitations which impair the usefulness and efficiency of such ma-v chines are well known in the trade, and many efforts have been advanced in the past with the purpose of overcoming some of the difficulties, but the market still has been seeking a satisfactorily operative and serviceable machine which is capable of advanced universal usage and productiveness. The machine of the present invention has proven itself greatly superior to others heretofore offered to industry, in its ability to process raw materials varying considerably as to Weight, size, hardness, and uniformity of thickness, and in addition, provision has been made for maximum continuity of operation by reason of mechanical improvements, and the incorporation of means permitting a plurality of different skiving operations simultaneously. Various other advantages of merit in the improved machine will become manifest to those skilled in the art, as the description proceeds,

As exemplified in Fig. 1, the head, generally ind cated by the character I5, is mounted on the bed Hi, which in turn is supported by the legs ll and IS. The head [5 rests directly upon the upper fiat surface is of the forwardly extending central portion M of bed it, being universally slidable thereon within defined limits. Clamp rails 2fi20 are suitably secured to the upper flat bed surface I9, transversely thereon, one on each side of the head base plate 2!. Each of the clamp rails 25) is provided with a rabbet, as shown, to slidably engage the tongues 2? of corresponding rabbets provided on the outer ends of the head base plate 2|. The clamp rails serve to prevent vertical displacement of the head it from the bed It and to limit the swiveling movement of the head. The clamp rails 2fi-fiil are set a sufiicient distance from the head base plate to permit limited swiveling or lateral movement of the head.

The lower face of the head base plate 2I is provided with a transverse groove substantially on the median line of the base plate, into which is slidably disposed the swivel plate 26. This swivel plate, like the head base plate 2!,

also takes its bearing on the upper flat surface 7 I9 of the bed I3, the swivel plate ends 2? and 23 extending substantially beyond the front and rear respectively, of the head base plate 2I, as shown in Figs. 3 and 5. The swivel plate 26 is also slidable upon the upper fiat surface IQ of the bed, means being provided for sliding the swivel plate independently of the head I5, as requirements demand in the operation and adjustment of the machine. The manner of swiveling the head and moving the head forwardly and rearwardly upon the bed will be hereinafter fully disclosed.

An endless band knife 29 (Fig. 1) tracks upon a pair of horizontally alignedcoplanar rotating drums 33 and 3|, mounted at opposite ends of the bed It. The knife, on its upper run, passes through openings 32 (Fig. 3) provided in the head uprights 34 substantially centrally thereof, then passes under the forwardly extending central portion it of the bed i5 on its lower run. The knife 29 performs a splitting or skiving action on leather or other material as said material is fed into the machine from the feeding table 33. Drum 33, mounted on drum shaft 35, is driven by the motor 3%; by means of the pulley belt 37 The machine is provided with two sets of knife guides, one directly behind the feed rolls, as shown at I ii in Fig. 9, and the other at the grinding station, as indicated at MS in Fig. l. The knife guides II! (Fig. 9) are mounted upon the knife. guide supports H9, which in turn are supported between the head uprights 34 (Fig. 3) and held against displacement by means of the screws I IQA. In order to preclude displacement and distortion of the knife when leather or the like is being fed to the said knife, a backing blade I23 is provided, which is supported by the plate l2I mounted upon an adjustable back bar I22, shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 6. The back bar is mounted on back bar supports I23 by means of adjusting screws I25. The knife guides H8 are mounted in suitable brackets depending from the bed It (Fig. 1).

Oil-moistened pads bear upon the upper run of the knife at each side of the head I5, as at MS (Fig. 1) while the lower run of the knife passes through oil soaked pads I21, depending from the bed it and disposed on each side of the grinding station, the purpose of these pads being to remove dust particles and other extraneous matter which might interfere with efficient operation of the machine. the drum guards by means of pivoted links I26.

A pair of vertically aligned parallel feed rolls I28 and I29 are horizontally mounted in the head I5 (Fig. 9) and rotated in opposite directions toward th beveled forward edge I30 of the knife- The oil pads i26 are mounted on 29, said rolls being driven by means of the motor I3I (Fig. 6) and gear box I32 through the sprockets I33 and the right and left hand spiral gears I35 and I36 keyed to the rolls I28 and I29, respectively. A sprocket guard is indicated at I31.

The upper feed roll I28 is called the gauge roll because it controls the thickness of the split of leather. This roll, which may be solid, is journaled in bearings I3! (Fig. 3) mounted in the vertically adjustable gaug roll carriage I38 mounted upon the head, the up and down movement of which is controlled by the hand wheel I39 centrally disposed upon the sprocket housing I49 atop the head It. Within the housing is a chain and sprocket mechanism for rotating in unison the screws I43 which elevate and lower the gauge roll carriage I38. Adjusting means for aligning the gauge roll in parallelism with the band knife 28' are indicated as adjusting collars I42 threaded upon the screws I43 and locked by the lock nuts Isl when the proper adjustment has been made by rotating the collars within the smoothly bored brackets M5 fixed to the carriage.

The gauge roll carriage I38 is also provided with pressure pin limit gauges (Fig. 9), one at each end of said carriage. An extension or boss Idl, which maybe integral with carriage I38, is bored and counterbored to receive the vertical pressure pin Hi8 having an enlarged flange portion E65 against which the coil spring I50 abuts, as shown in Fig. 9. The pressure pin M8 is also provided with an upper shank I5I- encircled by the compression spring I558. The spring is confined against displacement by the cover plate I52, held in place by means of screws, such as I53. Means for setting the pressure pin to limit the downward movement of the gauge roll carriage I33 may be provided, such as the set screw I55,

in threaded engagement with a tapped hol in the cover plate I52. The spring ISO-constantly urges the lower face I54 of the pressure pin into contact with the feeding table 33. By means of the set screw I55, the end of which abuts the upper face of the pin shank portion I5 I, the pressure pin M8 may he set to the point where the minimum working space between the gauge roll I28 and the cutting edge of the knife 29 is obtained. Thus, on rotating the hand wheel I39 atop the head I5, maximum downward movement of the carriage and gauge roll is reached when the pressure pin Hi8 strikes the set screw I55, eliminating the danger of the gauge roll I28 coming into contact with the rotating band knife 29.

The shaft of the hand wheel I39 is provided with a calibrated dial I56 (Fig. 3), mounted upon a sleeve I5! rotatable on said shaft. A pointer or mark I58, on top of the sprocket housing I40 adjacent the calibrated dial, is used in setting the gauge roll I28 for different thicknesses of leather splits. The sleeve I5? may be provided with a lock screw I59 for locking the calibrated dial to the hand wheel shaft when said dial reads zero in relation to the pointer or mark I58. When the gauge roll I28 is set at zero, as explained above, the pressure pins I48 will be in contact with the upp r surface of the feeding table 33, and a thin split of leather will result. If a heavier split of leather is desired, the hand wheel I39 is rotated to elevate the gauge roll I28 the desired distance from the blade 29, the calibrations on the dialv I55 determining the desired thickness of the split. When the gauge roll is so elevated, the springs I50 will urge the pressure pin I48 into contact with the feeding table 33.

In addition to limiting the downward moveand 9).

ment of the carriage i38 with its associated gauge roll [36, the pressure pins I48 serve to act as limit means for determining the maximum width of leather sheet which may be fed into the machine, said pins being spaced in correspondency with the maximum working length of the feed rolls 28 and I29.

In order to prevent upward distortion or bowing of the gauge roll as leather is fed to the knife, an elongated reinforcing means or bar may be provided, such as shown at i66 in Fig. 9. A screw ltiserves to adjust the reinforcing member i66. With the gauge roll i26 thus reinforced against upward distortion or bowing, a uniform thickness of the leather split is assured as leather is fed to the knife 29.

. pressure being controlled by the hand wheel 52,

Fig. 3. .As shown in Fig. 1, the pressure roll 526 is driven by means of spiral gear !36, said roll .being journaled in the pressure roll assembly,

generally indicated by the symbol I63 (Figs. 3 The pressure roll assembly is slidably mounted in the vertical slideways i65 provided in the head uprights 34. A plunger guide G66, bored for slidably receiving the plunger housing $61, is secured to each outer face of the head uprights as indicated in Fig. 3. cal plunger housing I61 is bored for receiving the plunger i66 (Fig. 4) which is tapped for threadedly engaging the lower end of the stud I69 and counterbored for receiving the compression spring 116. As will be noted in Fig. i, the spring H6 is confined within the plunger i 6 and the plunger housing E63 by abutment with bottom ill of the plunger housing bore and the shoulder I12 of the plunger counterbore. The

, upper end of the stud I69 is in engagement with the clevis H6 (Fig. 3) which in turn supports the pressure roller assembly H53 by engaging the laterally extending arm I15 thereof. locking any adju tments made upon the pressure roll spring mount may be provided, such as the lock nut 16 on the stud 166.

As hereinbefore stated, the spring pressure of the pressure roll E26 is controlled by the hand wheel 562, which is keyed to a shaft I11 suitably journaled in bearin blocks, one of which is shown at E18 in Fig. 3. Keyed to the shaft I11 is the worm 516 which me hes with the worm gear l8! keyed to a longitudinal shaft i82 journaled in and extending through the head uprights 34, a bearing being shown at 186. Keyed to each outer end of the longitudinal shaft !82 is a pinion 166 (Fig. 4) the teeth of which engage the rack teeth 85 provided on the outer diameter of the plunger housing 61.

Thus it will be seen that rotation of the hand wheel 562 will act to elevate and lower the pres-- sure roll assembly !63 in the vertical slideways !65.

Means for limiting the upward travel of the pressure roll assembly may be provided, such as the adiusting screws I66, shown in Fig. 1.

For best results in leather skiving or splitting, the cutting edge of the band knife 29 must be kept keen at all times. For this purpose, grinding wheels 236 and 23! are provided, said wheels being individually motor driven to act upon the lower run of the rotating band knife, as illus trated in Fig. 5. The grinding wheels 236 and 235 are adiustably mounted in a suitable frame, generally indicated by the symbol 262, said frame The cylindri- Means for v 6 being rigidly suspended from the swivel plate 26 and movable therewith. The screws for mounting thegrinding wheel frame 232 to the swivel plate 26 are indicated at 234.

The grinding wheels are adjusted by means of the hand wheel 233, adjustments being required asthe wheels become worn and for the initial setting of new wheels.

As shown, the grinding wheels are mounted to act on both sides of the'blade simultaneously to provide a beveled cutting edge, both bevels being'substantially equalto produce the best 'skiving results. These grinding wheels are always in light contact with the band knife when leather is being fed to the knife in order to maintain a keen edge thereon.

As hereinbefore recited, the head I5 is swivel mounted, making possible various adjustments heretofore unattainable in former leather skiving devices. Figs. 7 and 8 show the method of mounting the swivel head. Upon the front wall of the bed l6, substantially-centrally thereof, is mounted a swivel bracket 263, vertically apertured to receive the swivel pin 265. The upper surface of the swivel bracket 263 is coplanar with the surface !9 of the bed 16 upon which the swivel plate 26 is disposed. As shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the forward end 21 of the swivel plate rests upon the upper surface of the swivel bracket. The forward end of the swivel plate is slotted, as at 266, to slidably engage the pivot block 261, said block being centrally apertured to rotatably receive the swivel pin 265. The pivot block is of substantially the same thickness as the swivel plate 26.

Forward and rearward movement of the head I5 upon the bed [6 is selectively controlled by means of the head control hand wheel 26%, keyed to the shaft 269, said shaft being intermediate the shafts I11 and 255, and parallel therewith.

The shaft 269, adjacent its outer end, takes a bearing in the head control bearing block 210, which is in fixed relation with the bed 16 by means of the swivel pin 265. As shown, the bearing block 216 is apertured to receive the upper end of the swivel pin 265 which extends upwardly through the swivel bracket 263 and the pivot block 261. The swivel pin 265 may be secured against displacement in the bearing block 216, as by means of the lock pin 21!.

The inner end of the head control shaft 265 is threaded, as at 212, for engagement with the internal threads of a pull block 213 in fixed relation with the head 15, said pull block being in the form of a nut bolted or otherwise secured to the upper surface of the head base plate 2!.

Means for'precluding the shifting of the shaft 266 in thebearing block 216 have been provided. A counterturned diameter 215 extends through the transversely apertured bearing block 216, the shoulder 216 on the shaft abutting the rear face of said block. Interposed between the front face of the bearing 216 and the hand wheel 2236 upon the diameter 215, is a spacer collar 211, said hand wheel being held in abutment with the outer end face of said collar by means of the nut 218 turned upon the threaded outer end of the shaft 269.

Thus it will be seen that rotation of the hand wheel 268 transmits movement to the head i5 upon the bed surface 19 by reason of the threaded engagement of the shaft 269 with said head.

connection of, the head l5 and the swivel plate ,2 6 through the bevel control :shaft 255. :How- :ever, rotation-of the bevel control=hand wheel 253 will transmit motion 2130 the zswivel plate 1-26, but not to the headv l5.

When the swivel=plate26 isimoved either independently of -the head 15 or in association with the said head, it is guidedin its transversemovement by the pivot block:26l which slidably engages the slot 266 in the 'forward end 21 f said swivel .plate, and by the pair of .;opposed -.set screws 280, directedat the 'sides'of the swivel plate, atthe far end28z0fsaid-:swivelplate, as shown in Figs. and 6. TheseL-set screws 28!) which control the alignment of'the head I5, threadedly engage Ithe=vertical-blocks 28 I -mounted upon the rear wall 282-of the' bed Tat oppowsite: sides of the a swivel plate 26, the mounting means'o'f which:may'zbewscrews4283. =A'2S1ig'ht clearancesis maintained between: the ends; of the set screws :28!) 1- and .the sides 2 of swivel plate :26 to permit; free sli'dable movementof said-swivel plate between said .settscrews.

The; head is swivel-mounted. to insure thatithe cutting'edge of the band-knife 29is parallel with thezcenterilinerof the feed rolls' #28- and i'29: for the fullslength of the rolls when -thermachine is set:for splitting leather:otsubstantiallyuniform thickness. Thus the head 15 may be swiveledto: the rightor :left,,ras--theicase .mayube, inaligning .the band knife withthe feed rolls, by adjustingrthe'setascrews 280. :-After adjustments have been made, the .set=screws mayabe locked againstrotation by means of the lock :nutsi285.

If the operator desires toiobtain splitsofdiffer- -ent thicknesses, the headvmayxbe swiveled, by means of the swivel iplate f adjusting-screws 280, to obtain an :unparal'lel ,OI :cocked *relationship *between the outting-edge of the band :knife and the center line of i the feed :rolls. Such an adjustment ,produces a heavier split .at 'one end "of the ;:feed rolls 1 than: at uthe 20111161 with the result '"that individual leather sheets amay be .fed 5 simultaneously toithe knifeeat both sides of thefeed- 'il'lg itable 33, making 'i'possible 1 the 1 production TOf --severalthioknesses oh-splits withione setting -.of :thermachine. Obviously this .is an advantage :in

:therlower or scrap sheet will cbe discharged-into the bottom .tray F281, bothof said ztrays'beinge'at the rearof'the machineyaszshown.

As theknife blade :29 becomes-wormzthe head 15 may be advanced toward the band knife by means .ofthe head :control hand-"wheel :268 .to compensate fonthesknife wear. ronce the :knifehead, knife-grinder and grinder-head relationships have beeniestablished, .theIhand WheelFZGB is used to make the necessary adjustments :for maintaining :the grinder-iknife i'relationship. When 'theknife blade is replaced with-sa 'new one, the:head l5willihe:broughtiforwardztoithe original setting by the same means.

"The machine constructed as disclosed herein is highly productive and will perform many opierations :whichiheretofore ha'd to :beassigned -'to other machines especially adapted for splitting different grades and '--weights oi 'leather. Re-

peated handling of the products is thereby "avoided, and themachine therefore 'is 'kept in :continuous operation with a resultant: saving of labor and operatingexpense. Various other-advantages have been set forth'previously herein,

andstill others will be evident to those skilled in'theartf It to be understood that-various modifications and changes in the structural "details of the machine maybe made, within the-scope of -'the"-appended claims, without departing from the spirit of 'the invention.

What is claimed is:

LPInT-a'hand knife splitting machina-the combination of a' support, a he-ad'movablecrosswise and radially upon said supportgmeans for con- =trolling crosswise movement of sai'dhead, and

means for controlling radial movement of said head.

'2. In a band knife-splitting 'rnachinaia bed, a grooved head translatably supported upon said bed for crosswise and radial movement'there'on,

an elongated swivel-plate supported upon said bed in slidable engagement with the'groove of said'head,-said swivel plate'being longitudinally slidable upon the bed independently of thehead, and radially movable with said head, means in association with the head and'the bed for controlling crosswise movement of said head upon said had, means associatedwith the swivel plate and the bed for controlling radial movement of the head upon said bed, work feeding means on drums upon the bed and maintaining a fixed orbit of travel for the band knife, a head supported upon the bed, a pair of material feeding rollsarranged in spaced parallelism upon the head in position toadvance sheet material to a moving section of the band knifefor splitting said material, andmeans for selectively moving the head to displace thefeed rolls in unison, to fixed positions of parallelism and non-parallelism with respect to .saidband knife section.

4. In a material splittingrmachine, the combination of a bed, a continuous bandknife, a

pair of spaced coplanar rotating drumsperipher- 'ported upon-the bed, :a pair of -material feeding rolls-arranged inspaced parallelism upon the head .in position to :advance sheet :material to a moving section of the band knife for-splitting said material, and-meansfor selectively moving the head to displace-the feed rolls 1 in unison, toward and from the 'band knife section, and to fixed positions of parallelism and non-parallelism with respect'to-said band knife section.

'5. In a sheet material splitting machine, the combination of a support, a head shiftably'mounted upon the support, said head includingsheet material feeding means inthe form oirdriven'para'llel rolls,*a knife disposed between the rolls and normally in parallelismwith the roll axesto split the material 'fed 'thereto'by the feeding 'means,

means forshifting the head'and'the feed xrolls laterally with relation to the'knife, and'means for adjustably moving the head "to "dispose'the 'feed roll axes at'a slight angle'to the knife.

6. In a sheet material splitting machine, the combination of a support, a head shiftably mounted upon the support, said head including sheet material feeding means in the form of driven parallel rolls, a knife disposed between the rolls and normally in parallelism with the roll axes to split the material fed thereto by the feeding means, means for shifting the head and the feed rolls laterally with relation to the knife, and means for adjustably moving the head to dispose the feed roll axes at a slight angle to the knife, in a plane parallel to the feed rolls.

7. In a sheet material splitting machine, the combinationof a support, a head shiftably mounted upon the support, said head including sheet material feeding means in the form of driven parallel rolls, a knife disposed between the rolls and normally in parallelism with the roll aXes to split the material fed thereto by the feeding means, means for shifting the head and the feed rolls laterally with relation to the knife, an elongate swivel plate resting upon the support, a fixed guide on the head accommodating the swivel plate to guide the head movements, pivot means at one end of the plate for pivotally and slidably connecting the plate to the support, and means at the opposite end of the plate to fix the plate in selected positions of adjustment about said pivot means.

'8. In a sheet material splitting machine, the combination of a support having a planar upper surface, a head having a lower surface resting upon the upper surface of the support and including an elongate guideway in said lower surface, a swivel member in the form of an elongate bar slidably received in the guideway of the head and resting fiatwise upon the planar upper surface of the support, sheet material feeding rolls rotatably mounted on the head in parallelism with the aforesaid surfaces of the head and the support, means for rotating the feed rolls, a knife carried by the support and having a cutting section disposed between the feed rolls normally in substantial parallelism With both feed roll axes, adjustment means for shifting and positioning the head lengthwise along the swivel bar, and other adjustment means for shifting the swivel bar both lengthwise and crosswise relative to the support.

9. In a sheet material splitting machine, the combination of a support, a head rotatable and movable cross-wise upon said support, said head including sheet material feeding rolls rotatably driven with the axes of the rolls in parallelism, a knife disposed on the support between the rolls and normally in parallelism with the roll axes to split the material fed thereto by the feeding means, and means for adjustably fixing the head in selected positions of angularity to the knife, at which the roll axes likewise are disposed at an angle to said knife.

RALPH W. HALL.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Robertson July 16, 1895 Number 

